The number of Americans receiving subsidized food assistance from the federal government has risen to 101 million, representing roughly a third of the U.S. population.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that a total of 101,000,000 people currently participate in at least one of the 15 food programs offered by the agency, at a cost of $114 billion in fiscal year 2012.

That means the number of Americans receiving food assistance has surpassed the number of private sector workers in the U.S..

Of course, the more people on welfare, the better the government, right? But as Ronald Reagan said best: “We should measure welfare’s success by how many people leave welfare, not by how many are added.”

Until we get rid of the notion that people are entitled to no-strings-attached welfare, this nation will continue to be trapped in economic stagnation. Let’s take a look at some recent figures:

“Since January 2009, when Barack Obama was inaugurated as president, the United States has seen 54 straight months with the unemployment rate at 7.5 percent or higher, which is the longest stretch of unemployment at or above that rate since 1948″… [CNS News, July 5th. 2013]

“Of the 11.8 million jobless Americans in June, 4.3 million had been out of work six months or longer. There were 1 million fewer long-term jobless than last year, but their ranks remain way above the previous high-water mark of 2.8 million in 1983.” [Huffington Post, July 5th, 2013]

“[T]he number of people not in the labor force which in March soared by a massive 663,000 to a record 90 million Americans who are no longer even looking for work… And even worse, the labor force participation rate plunged from an already abysmal 63.5% to 63.3% – the lowest since 1979! [ZeroHedge, April 2013]

“The total number of people in the United States now receiving federal disability benefits hit a record 10,962,532 million in April, which exceeds the 10,815,197 people who live in the nation of Greece.” [CNS News, May 2013]

“As the president began the first year of his second term, the U.S. poverty rate rose to a level not seen since the 1960s… The Census Bureau says that 50 million Americans, roughly one in six — almost 17% — are living below the poverty line… apparently 20% of the nation’s children are living in poverty.” [IBD, April 2013]

That’s “compassionate” policy for you nowadays: not creating jobs or growing a prosperous middle class, but “spreading the wealth around.” Since 51% of the nation isn’t paying federal income taxes, and 49.1% of households are receiving some form of welfare, it’s safe to say that one half of the nation is literally looting the other half through government.